38 dead in Italy quake: first official toll

Amatrice (AFP): A powerful earthquake that rocked central Italy on Wednesday left 38 people dead and the total is likely to rise, the country’s civil protection unit said in the first official death toll.

“There are still so many people under masonry, so many missing,” said Immacolata Postiglione, the head of the unit’s emergency department.

She had earlier announced a toll of 37 but subsequently corrected her statement.